


What the Zone brings us

by orphan_account



Category: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. (Video Games), Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crossover, Mild Language, No Romance, Out of Character, POV First Person, Possible Character Death, Supernatural Elements, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:34:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24547699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Compilation of smaller stories depicting Judy's life as a stalker.
Kudos: 8





	1. Ain't no grave: Part 1

**SEPTEMBER 21st, 2021.**

**01:21 A.M.**

I went on the road near 9 p.m. A lot of stalker mammals think it's a bad sign and try to cross the perimeter during the daylight. Too bad, I didn't care what others thought.

I stopped caring about it long ago, when I was a new stalker. My mentor – may the fate have mercy on him – told me to make my own rules. Even if it's gonna be a taunt-target for everyone, but if you will do it – you will be successful.

Looks like it was hard for the sun to disappear today. It shrank near the horizon, while spitting the ‘blood’ on nearby clouds, to recover and rise again the next day.

My path was going through the closest forest. I caught the good mood pretty fast. Otherwise I could've delayed my trip for quite a while. Long ago, I've started to view the world somewhat different than before. This is why I refuse to teach anyone how to survive in Zone. Someone, who wants to earn something, sometimes doesn't even realize that the price for the desired reward can be too big, and they won't be the only ones paying it.

I caught the pace and embraced myself. My legs became the independent gear of the machine "Judy Hopps" or _“Carrots”_ , a nickname which stuck to me like a burdock, and I could keep walking without exhausting. As for the actual gear – I don't have much of it. I distance myself from lethal guns and try not to carry any massive metal things. It’s a weird habit I developed and can’t do anything about it.

It finally went dark. But that doesn't mean I can get lost. Hell, even if I do – I can't miss the borderline of metal wires. I found the weak spot the moment I approached to it. It wasn't that hard to go through – just don't lose yourself and don't hit the signal rocket ropes. These guys won't even try to catch you – but they surely will try to guess what name to put on your gravestone. Even if you will only get a slight concussion – the Zone is locked for you forever. Weak minds don't live long here.

Inventing a bicycle is pointless here. A couple of cuts with wire cutter here and there, hop over the rope and we're done! _"The greatest Zone guarding fence"_ has been successfully defeated! I dropped the wire cutter – it's totally useless now. Nobody thinks of going back home, when entering the Zone.

Some time ago it was impossible. Choppers, light carriers and towers with snipers who welcomed you in full force. They said it was really effective. Now it's just a tiny bit different – it's all inside the Zone, choppers are the home of different mutated mammals here, and carriers are just decorations to the atmosphere.

It was quiet. Too quiet. Oh, how I hate that – it's a great sign of the destiny to put some weird trick on you.

And then I heard the sound. I heard a quiet and sad weeping coming from inside the forest. Zone has a lot of surprises. One of them – are mutants, and a lot of them are sick savages. I pulled out a knife and moved forward. Something horrifying was in that weeping. Someone was dying – and it was surely long and painful death.

There are marauders, that won't hesitate to kill even the slightly injured teammate. There are mammals that will try to keep away from the Zone's business. But as I was saying – I don't really care.

Right before me, there was an ugly creature, lying on a stump. I guess, it was a weasel before, but now it's hard to tell by its look. The skinny and bald creature was trying to keep its head with its only eye. The eye that was staring at me. The weeping sound it made, wanted me to drop into the grass and weep with it, sharing the pain that the fate gave to it. The poor creature slightly twitched.

I was starting to swing my glass knife, but, eventually, I overcame the desire to end its suffering. The Zone was waiting for me. It was its way to say ‘hello’.

Hello to you, too, Zone.


	2. Ain't no grave: Part 2

I took a break on the closest hill. A long time ago, my mentor and I came to this place. We constructed a cart from vehicle remnants laying around, put it on the rails and ventured into the Zone with comfort. I was surprised with how silent it was. The rails were nearly invisible, because of the grass, and we could only hear the wheel noise.

It was a safe and fast path back then, but now it's a suicide to go on it. You could see the pile of metal that the rails were turned into and its last passengers as well.

Three stalkers, dozens of scientists and a military guard – that was the science expedition, who tried to approach the destroyed reactor three years ago, from this place. Guess, what happened to them. I refused to go with them, and got year and a half of another zone, called jail. Three marauders, that were caught that day, were freed by Cpt. Bellwether, in exchange of the promise to assist the scientific research of the Zone.

I always wondered, why am I still doing this. Money? Yeah, but would I risk my fluff butt only for money every time? I have the reputation of a strange bunny-stalker. I never sell something cool to random people, I don't escort anyone. Hell, I don't ask for money, when I sell my maps, made from my sweat and blood. I wonder, how it's not in a literal meaning yet. The only way I get paid – a good friend of mine in Zootopia Zone Investigation Center. If the artifact was unique, I was guaranteed to be the anonymous seller and the assistance in anything I need. I always think that I do something good and useful. But why do I keep coming back here – I still don't know.

I was already 2 kilometers away from the railroad tracks, and it’s going great so far. The swamped bit was left behind, and now there was only grass rustling under my feet. I could take a shortcut through the thick forest, but today I felt like going through this wide meadow nearby, and I didn’t try stopping myself.

I carefully moved forward, throwing bolts and stones, so I could mark the safe area. I didn’t like how that particular rock twitched mid-air, so I took a small pile of dirt and threw it onto the _“mosquito spot”_. And here comes another mark on my map. This one is new – it wasn’t there last time. And now it’s gonna grow all big and thick eventually, so the science nerds from the Center wouldn’t lose their comfy jobs.

The sky was going dark. Thunders are common here and, most of the time, without rain. A bright flash above me and the following rumble made me pause for a moment. I caught my breath, turned around and froze, gazing into the horizon near the railroad behind me. Right near my last staying point, something was standing on all fours. I had a glimmer of hope for it to be just an optical illusion, but the faint laughter completed the horrifying picture in my head. One, two and soon there was a large pack of Zone-exclusive hyenas.

I turned back around and threw a bolt as far as I could. It was a dangerous maneuver on its own – if a _“break-a-leg_ _”_ or _“scumgrass”_ are in my way, then it’s gonna be super bad, but I didn’t have much time. A large pack of hyenas, which used to be just like their city counterparts, were tailing me, and these are one of the most dangerous Zone “children”.

Burbones was one of the smaller settlements that were affected by the ZNPP disaster. Since it was mostly populated by hyenas due to its proximity to the Savannah Center border, they were the majority of the victims. Those who survived the outbreak have literally degraded to their stone-age primal versions, but at the same time it felt like they got a lot smarter when it comes to hunting. Like the fact that they don’t seek leftovers anymore and go for the kill themselves. I caught myself thinking that their actions were led by some evil mind. Eight months ago, the Zone purging team that was moving along their usual route, was attacked by such pack and lost half the roster. They only survived because of the gas bombardment which they deliberately called on themselves. And if the pack also had gas masks, they wouldn’t make it out alive.

But I had a chance. This isn’t my first direct encounter with them. Running as fast as I could, I turned to the north, where I had a nice little cluster of skulls on my map. I wasn’t planning to go there at all, but now it was the only effective defense plan I had.

Hyenas are only good at attacking. They can’t detect dangerous spots and fall into them easily. It wouldn’t work if these were felines – they’re complete opposite in that regard. It’s a blessing there aren’t any of mutated ones, and feline stalkers, that venture here, don’t need bolts or detectors. But right now all I need is _“mosquito spot”,_ _“grinder’_ or _‘earwig”._

I spotted the first anomaly the moment I moved up the steep hill. The _“spot”_ was clearly visible – an old and powerful anomaly turned the grass into shredded mess. A couple of stone throws also revealed the _“whirligig”_ – a nice gravity-based surprise. Remember that one song? _“You spin me round”_? Well, guess no further – it will make you spin around itself, before throwing you out like a catapult projectile.

I have just passed through these two neighbors, when the first hyena caught up to me. It lunged at me, and the next 5 seconds would be my last, had I not been prepared for it. First second – my paw dove into the holster, the next one – I get a solid grip on the handgun, the third one – the barrel points at the target like an accusing finger, and a 5cm needle hits right in its mouth. I could almost see it break, releasing the acid. The beast screamed, fell over to the side and started violently twitching.

I took a couple of steps back, locked myself into the position, slightly opened my fingers, letting the mass of the gun hang on my wrist and fully relaxed my paw. Even though it’s a pneumo-handgun, it still isn’t any lighter than your average military one.

This pistol is a gift from Pinhead – a former lemur stalker, who got caught into the _“break-a-leg”_ and survived by sheer luck. I found him and carried all the way back to the perimeter. And I always told him that someone else saved him: there was a whooping 20km distance between the trap and the place I found him in. That raid was weird all around back then, and Pinhead believed that it’s all coming from someone else’s will from above. Having lost his legs, the poor guy started to drink a lot, but fortunately he found a purpose for himself: crafting his own gear and repairing others’. Of course, he was also buying other Zone-made stuff, too.

He made this gun entirely on his own. A cylinder of compressed air was placed on a side ledge, separate from the handle, which covered the paw from the outside. As a counterweight to this ledge, an external magazine for ampoule-type needles with some kind of poisonous muck was attached on the other side of the handle. Inside the handle was a regular mag full of simple needles. As a result, the design turned out to be bulkier than most military handguns, but it was comfortable to use, silent and with very little knockback.

Meanwhile, four more hyenas appeared in front of me. The one coming from the right suddenly buried its head into the mud, the red mess spilled all over the ‘spot’, and the body kept flying up and forward. The rest of the imagery was not in my interest, though. I shot another two of them that literally formed a waiting line in front of me, and the fourth guest only announced its departure by getting into the “ _whirligig”_ , with only its distant screech being heard. But the main pack was still on its way.

The duo I shot earlier was rolling on the ground 5m away from me, on the right, another two hit the _“spot”_ and the one to the left just won the spin-the-wheel game. The pack has halted their advance. None of them was brave enough to try their luck. While they were not looking directly at me and coming closer to their dying comrades instead, I could feel their murderous intent towards me. Raising the gun again, I shot the closest hyena. The needle hit its shoulder and it tried to bite itself there. The sky got darker and after the following rumble, the injured hyena suddenly lunged at the closest one of them. Jaws started flashing, pieces of fur and flesh were starting to scatter – the injured hyenas were getting slaughtered by their own pack. I backed away a little, then turned around and continued going up the hill towards a huge pile of metal. It turned out to be a carcass of a truck, and it could be dangerous. I threw a bolt to the right – it was instantly erased in a lightning flash. The left throw had the same result. The only way was climbing up the carcass’s remnants. The pack below me was still killing each other, but I knew that I had a little more than a minute to escape. No chance of shooting them all down, so I took the risk.

It could be just a crashed old truck, but the very presence of such metal giants is usually a red flag for anomalies nearby. Another bolt is thrown, but it doesn’t seem to detect anything. Meanwhile, another wild pilot reached to the skies behind me – than means they continued following me.

I stepped onto the bent piece of metal, jumped off of it and barely grabbed onto the ledge. Now that I was directly on top of the truck, I had a proper high ground for once. The vehicle was huge and it was more than 2m tall, so running further away was pointless no matter how you look at it – it was much safer staying put. I could see how these laughing savages, having finished off the rest of the weak ones, started to go through the gap between the two anomalies. They were walking slowly and weren’t about to go in line anymore. Then it hit me: they’re literally following my footsteps. If the prey went through there, then they can do so, too. I was preparing to take another shot at them, but the Zone itself decided to intervene.

A terrible rumble caused everything to shake and a lightning current hopped between every anomaly visible. I almost went both blind and deaf – the only reason I didn’t fall was me being too scared to even move. I barely loosened the grip and sluggishly went down from the truck, nearly falling in the process. The hyena pack, once-formidable threat, was nothing more than a couple of scared animals going back down the hill. But make no mistake: they will pull themselves back together and will try again soon.

I was sitting near the truck that I would have avoided in any other case, and I was exhausted. The sleepless night and all the tension finally took their toll, so I got back up onto the truck’s roof and fell asleep. I was safe here, for now.


	3. Ain't no grave: Part 3

**03:43 A.M.**

Three hour naps aren’t exactly helpful in your daily life, but it was exactly what I needed right now. A light breeze was blowing against me and it was time for me to think about my next destination. I reloaded the gun, pulled out my lunchbox, a map and got comfortable. The vehicle was like a temporary house for me at this point.

While drinking some fresh water from the bottle and snacking on an apple salad, I was thoroughly re-examining my map. Turns out I covered a lot more distance than I thought. All while passing by some dangerous places I didn’t even pay attention to, and now I was right in the middle of an area, which was marked on the map with the _“Think twice”_ note and four skulls near it.

There was no coming back now. Otherwise the recent skirmish will repeat, and I may not have a second chance. But if I move forward, there’s a chance of them losing me completely. So once I was done with my food, I packed my belongings and continued on.

Skeletons are a rarity in this place. The conditions here are not exactly happy ones for future archeologists. This one looked rather pristine. Its paw was gently placed on the AK rifle of 5.45 calibers, a badge with personal number ID was hanging from what remained of the cervical vertebrae and the skull was staring forward from below the steel helmet. Poor guy was probably a driver of this thing. Got into whatever situation he was, tried to hide behind the wheels and found his last stop here. For some reason, his long boots and a belt strap with a metal star pin were in good condition. I stood there for a couple of seconds, and then threw a bolt down the hill. Death, however scary thing this is, is not a rare sight to behold.

The descent was all too easy, considering it was the same when I got up there from another side. That’s why I didn’t like that one puddle down below – the water is too clean and its bottom was clearly visible. Not taking the risk, even if it’s just an ordinary puddle – gotta go around it.

Throw the bolt, double check it with a nearby stone, pick up the thrown bolt and proceed. This process has become as natural as walking or breathing. And you turn into the walking detector of unnatural activity and environmental inconsistencies, as well as the analytical device that gives you directions based on your internal feeling alone. Case in point: I don’t know why I don’t like that deformed stump over there, but I’m not coming close to it. Maybe I’ll reflect on it later and figure out why I was alarmed by a simple tree remnant, or maybe not.

I saw that thing from far away. It was a black spiral, 10cm in diameter, with a blue cloud above it. I haven't seen these ones before. I threw a stone towards it, hoping I won't find any anomalies and I was lucky not to find any. My knees were shaking as I approached to the spiral and finally took it. It was like that every time I touched THESE things. At last, I could go back home.

But there was one thing. The fastest way out was through the nearby swamp. I don't really like them, but I had to do it. Zone's night swamps were the only thing I stayed away from. Ah, whatever. I will do it if I have to. I was carefully going forward, when I heard a quiet, but distinguishable moan:

_– Help…_

I almost hopped from it. Mammal citizens – aren't a common thing here. But the voice owner caught onto the fact that he's not alone:

_– Help!_

Mammal, no doubts. Judging from the voice – predator. But when I approached to the voice source, I was surprised.

In the middle of the swamp there was a fox – no less dirty than the swamp itself. If I wasn't polite, I would've called him fat. His face was scratched and I could read the fear for his life on it. He had really strange clothes choice for the Zone: shredded and dirty business suit. He hadn't noticed me yet, but he yelled one more time:

_– Help!_

I've seen a lot of things before, but nothing like this. I decided to let him explain what happened:

_– What are you yelling at?_

– _W-who are you?_ – he squeezed the words out of himself.

– _Hopps. Judy Hopps._ – I replied without thinking twice. Good job revealing your identity, dumb bunny!

_– What Hopps? Where's the rescue team?!_

_– I don't know… What exactly happened here?_

It all turned out simple and hard to understand at the same time. Gideon Grey, the local government official and a close friend of the mayor, asked for the chopper, to personally see the Zone from above. But then they hit the ‘bird ride’and they landed… not as smooth as expected. The pilot died, and Grey had nothing left to do other than call the rescue team from the intact radio. And then he got trapped in the ‘snot’– harmless, but annoying trap. The fun thing is – it was attached to his, how he phrased it, left halfbutt.

But a couple of things were definitely strange. First – I didn't hear the chopper. The second one: this red idiot was alive the whole time. Someone without proper training can only stand still here, and not for long anyway. And he looked like he was in total comfort here. But that wasn't the main reason I decided to leave him. I know this kind of mammals. They draw every kind of adventure towards you. And if the rescue team sees me, that’s guaranteed jail time.

 _– Wait!_ – he screamed, as he guessed my intentions. – _Don't leave! Hey, bunny! You can't leave me here! What if your mutant relative will eat me?!_

I stopped. Grey, noticing my hesitation, kept yelling. While I was wondering, what exactly have I done in my life to deserve this, he already let all the local habitants, how he will sue me, my family and looks like, he was about to do it for the rest of his life.

Hyenas' distant laugh let me know, that they really like that idea, and were about to save this guy even earlier than the team. And if I’m being honest with myself – I can’t just leave someone to die to the pack I literally brought with myself. That’s my weakness. Damn it… My chances of coming back home alive were going downhill.

 _– Pants off!_ – I approached to him, holding a knife. He was scared at first, but he understood what I was going to do. I carefully cut the part that was attached to the trap, while Gideon was happily jumping on the place after I was done. What a disgusting image. I hope it goes away from my mind soon.

Then I had to wait, while he will put the pants back on, then – when he will stop ranting about his ‘hole in the butt’. I was thinking about what to do with this burden in fox's body. He helped me out with the decision:

_– So, help me get out of here…. What's your name again? Judy! I wanna eat and I wanna get outta here as fast as possible. And I will take care of reducing your jail time if you do it. How does that sound?_

My eyes went dark from the wish of dropping this idiot right here. Well, after attaching him to the trap first.

_– Listen up! If you will say anything stupid, like what you just said – I will drop you here. That's first. I will call you a Donut from now. I guess you ate lots of them, before coming here, huh? If you won't answer on that nickname – I will drop you. You hear me? That's second. And whatever-the-god-you-trust-in forbid you to ever scream again – I'm gonna kill you. See this gun? It has no bullets, but believe me, these darts aren’t going to help your case either._

The mad laughter that was getting closer helped him find an answer.

_– That's the spirit. Follow me now, right after my footsteps. If I will stop – you stop too. If I will lie down – you lie too. Got it?_

He nodded. He finally understood that his life is in my hands. We had to get out of here and find a place to wait out the night. I don't want to stay in this swamp anymore.

Nobody was going into the Zone in the night before. Then we found that some anomalies are less active in night, but a lot of predator-mutants are complete opposite. That's why I carry bolts with glowing stripes. You can see them even better, than usual. I kept throwing them, because I feared everything at this point – especially this guy, who didn't know a thing and answered to all my questions with _‘how am I supposed to know?’_. To make up an excuse of him wandering around, I asked him to look for the dropped bolts. And I happened to meet a resistance.

_– I'm not going to be a shit collector on a service of a criminal!_

_– Oh, what do we have here?_ – I asked firmly. _– A passenger wants to stop the ride on the comfortable train?_

– If you're ready to help me to do so – go ahead!

Damn, he caught me on my softness. I decided not to answer.

When we finally left the swamp, I opened my bag and pulled out the waterproof sheet. Grey sounded like he was going to sleep. I felt sorry for him for a second. I slightly pushed him, and he dropped on the sheet with a relief sound. I wouldn't risk sleeping here, unlike him. I wasn't going to anyway. I spilled the spare gunpowder everywhere, to mask our scent and buy us the time. I was surprised by the fox: he was sleeping, like there was nothing to fear and nothing to lose. Yeah, anyone can not only be anything, but also do anything. Or maybe it's just a poor excuse of his stupidity. I wasn't caring what will happen to us.

But we made it to the morning. I decided it was time to go.

 _– Get up, Donut_ – I woke him up. – _It's time_ _to go_.

 _– I'm not a Donut for you_ , – said this big sleepy meatball, that happened to be my companion. – _And I won't go anywhere. The rescue team should be here. And I will be here, too._

Looks like, he gained some courage during the night. I already wanted to leave him be when I heard familiar mad laughter. They almost got us. They surely wander around the swamp and trying to sniff us out

 _– We gotta go_ – I almost pleased him, but with no effect.

 _– You've got the gun_ – he said calmly. – _Shoot 'em all._

_– You might as well talk your way out. Come on, we're goners if we won't move!_

_– Sometimes you get jealous of the goners themselves. Gimme the gun and go. I'll cover you._

The last words had a clear taunt to me. I wanted to flee. But I couldn't. Seems like such a weenie like me has to prepare to defend myself.

The night fog almost faded away, when we saw another mammal coming to us, who was wearing a military camouflage. It was so unexpected, that I froze for a moment, and the gun already pointed in my face.

The guest was a huge buffalo. Captain rank, if the shoulder marks were any indication. He didn't have any large equipment, aside from the name badge with ‘Bogo’ on it. His face was tired, but calm. He was lucky not to kick the bucket, but I was afraid that I will do it right now.

_– Yep. Stalkers. What should I do with you?_

Donut was trying to get up, but the gun didn't move – looks like he saw what we made of.

 _– I'm not a stalker. I'm Gideon Grey. You should know about the recent chopper accident. I demand to get me out of here. Tell your chief about your success_.

Bogo's look became curious:

 _– Hmm, yeah, I remember. And you?_ – that was a question to me. – _Are you a pilot?_

 _– She's surely a stalker_ , – Donut interrupted him. – _Arrest her! She threatened me with a gun and some mutated hyenas!_

Then we heard laughter. Again. I wondered if they're actually smart, because by the time we were fleeing from them, they could finally get us. The buffalo finally took the gun away. He took out the water bottle and shared with me. That was a good sign.

 _– Oh come on!_ – Donut yelled again. – _Wasn't I clear about what to do?_

While not paying attention to him, I stated to explain to Bogo, what is going on, in all details. He acted wisely shortly after I was done.

 _– Pack 'em up_ – he said to me. – _And you: get up_ , – that was for the fox. – _Time to get the hell out of here._

And then the fox went nuts. He was suing and jailing everyone in his curses. He told us, who the hell we are, that he's done with it, that he only wanted to look at the Zone from above, that I'm just a dumb bunny whose ears are only long for a decorating and that the rescue team makes money for its job, not for drinking tea, sniffing heroin and paying for home strippers. And after the last one he was fed by a fist.

 _– GET UP, YOU FROG!_ – Bogo said firmly. – _I AM your rescue team. Two stalkers and military squad went to you yesterday. I'm the only one alive. And it would be sad if I'll kill you right now, but I was given an order. Get up!_

And hit him under the ribs with his hoof.

_– I have one place in my mind. There's a hill nearby with loads of stones. We can defend from there._

I lost the pace with how fast he was going, once we proceeded forward. But I couldn't see how fast was he going and decided to help.

 _– You can't just walk around here here, like you're at home,_ – I said. – _You even had stalkers in your team to teach you that!_

The buffalo stopped and turned around.

 _– You think so?_ – He said with an irony. – _Now let me tell you: they died first. Throwing their shit here and there, they suddenly dropped dead. Both of them! Believe me I've seen dead bodies before. They looked like they were dead for a week._

– _This is why you don't hire marauders,_ – I said softly. – _They have their own Zone route. These guys probably were young, otherwise they would probably rob you on their way back._

It seems he understood me perfectly. What a smart guy. Someone like him is very rare to meet nowadays.

Soon enough we made it to the spot. There were bunch of boulders and stones that looked as if they were used to build a cover area. So we used them for the same purpose: we built a rounded ‘fortress’ – as if the stone round could actually be called a fortress – with a couple of weak spots to attract the pride. I shared my last supplies with Bogo, and Donut got nothing. Serves him right. The plan of actions was obvious, but the buffalo felt like he should make the orders of it. It probably helped him not to feel like a cornered prey. The actual plan was: try not to let the hyenas inside, and if anything will go wrong – gather on the biggest boulder in the middle. That’s one. Two: pay attention to trees – nobody knows what Zone has prepared for us. Bogo surprised me when he pulled out two more pistols and unloaded the ammo packs. That's how you think ahead! He gave me one of the pistols and two ammo packs.

 _– Hold this, rabbit._ – He saw the weapon of mine. – _Wow, what an ugly gun_.

 _– That's a pneumatic dart shooter. Nothing illegal_ – I said, carefully holding my beloved pistol.

_– Chill, I'm not a patrol, I don't care what you carry. Take this one, too. Made from ceramic – the latest Zone-adapted development, double-barreled, 18 bullets in one magazine, almost silent, shoots from one barrel at a time and shells are coming from both sides._

He took the exact same gun for himself, played around with it a bit, and took out his main rifle. Donut probably didn't realize what kind of situation are we in, and his eyes had a ‘You will regret this’ look. I was swinging the gun in my paw, looking at its handle, magazine changing mechanism, palming the grey material of shutter cover. My first impressions were softness and comfortable holding. No metal. My prettiest dream.

 _– Donut! –_ the buffalo liked my nickname given to him – _Take all the small rocks you can, and do it fast._

He obeyed unwillingly and started to gather them into my backpack. Bogo already finished his playing, and looks like he was feeling positive about all this. In 300 meters from us, there were slight silhouettes, nearly undistinguishable because of the poor morning light.

 _– Donut!_ – Bogo shouted. _– Get back here! We have guests._

They found us.

Donut quickly retreated back, which was surprising, given his non-athletic look. Looks like, he finally realized what's happening.

He returned just in time. The first hyenas – gosh, they were ugly – already gathered in one spot.

 _– Only shoot if you're sure to hit the target – if there are more, we won't have enough ammo. And you_ – he turned to Donut, – _watch our back and let us know if someone entered the circle. And welcome them with something heavy._

For the first time I saw the real fear in fox's eyes.

Ten minutes have passed. Mutants' pride was getting bigger. And then they all launched forward – as if they were obeying some silent order.

 _– Oh wow_ , – Bogo mumbled, rising the pistols, – _soon they will fight as real army._

The stream of brown bodies divided into numerous parts, covering out hideout. The point of such maneuver was clear as day. They tried to rush through all the entrances at once. The first shot was deafening, and the second one – silent as sound of opening the champagne bottle. Two of beasts were dead. I turned around and shot another sneaky one, who tried to approach from the back. The poison made its job perfectly. The buffalo was shooting almost non-stop. Donut was sitting in the center, fearfully looking from side to side. The whole circle was painted in blood, every entrance had the dead mutant, but they were quickly dragged back to free the space.

It couldn't last forever. I've run out of darts. I was in hurry to load the new ones, but my shaking hands were making it hard, and when I finally finished, two hyenas were already inside of the circle.

The first mutant was dead quick enough, but another one was already airborne and I couldn't keep up. But suddenly, the big boulder hit its face and the beast flew away on a nice distance. Only after some time I saw the Donut, who was sitting here with a smile and when he saw my glance, he nodded and got up with said boulder. He looked like he was spoofed. Not a single sign of fear on his face. Bogo finally said something.

 _– We won't last long with this tactic. Only shoot those who made it inside_ , – another stone flew past him, killing another hyena. It looked like some mysterious force was pushing them to their deaths. The captain was trying to reload.

 _– The last one,_ – he smiled, catching my glance.

Someone touched my shoulder. I turned around and saw Donut with complicated face expression.

_– Do you have another knife, Hopps?_

I didn't know what was that expression but I game him my bone knife. For the first time in my stalker life, I was without my both knives. Looks like the fox was surprised when he saw the bone instead of the metal.

 _– Zone doesn't like metal_ , – I explained to him, – _this knife cuts as good as metal one, just apply more force to the hit._

He stepped back and then I saw something that covered my back with cold sweat. Damn trees – one of the hyenas was climbing up on it and three others were waiting for their turn.

 _– Over there!_ – I shouted, when the first one jumped down.

I have just raised my pneumatic pistol, when Bogo shot him mid-air. I fed another one with poison and it dropped down with horrifying sound, knocking down ones who tried to climb as well. Donut just finished off the big mutant and threw the corpse away. The three of us stood on the largest rock, exposing the already bloody knives and preparing to accept our fate. The new stalker was born before my eyes. 

But then something happened. There was no special signal, nothing intervened - but they started to retreat, and those that were climbing up the trees just started jumping from them on the ground, breaking their paws and necks. In about a minute they completely disappeared from our sights. The pack probably realized that it could be Pyrrhic victory if they will continue going any further, and retreated back. Or maybe they simply decided that we were not worth going for, given that they wasted half the night doing it. Bogo was bitten in right arm, I got a scratch on the back and Donut only received a couple of bruises.

As we were hurrying to the perimeter, I couldn't believe that I was thinking of these two completely different mammals as my friends. That's how I felt at least. The sun was shining. The daylight finally came into the Zone.

But one does not simply walk out of the Zone unaffected. Which i learned, once more, in a weird, but a hard way.


	4. Ain't no grave: Part 4 [END]

**06:55 A.M.**

We finally said our goodbyes behind the perimeter. No more adventures on our way back. We were lucky to see the destroyed area with scorched earth – looks like someone got caught here.

As his way of saying goodbye, Bogo gifted me one of his ceramic guns. We shook hands and Gideon Grey – I can only respect him after what he did to us – said that we will meet again.

_–I think it won't be hard to find someone like you_ , – said the buffalo. He finally smiled, sincerely

They went out and soon disappeared from my sight, and I stayed still for a while and went to the forest, where I came in Zone from. I could finally see the real sunshine. But suddenly I felt a slight movement in my backpack. I carefully opened it and found the blue-clouded spiral that I totally forgot about. I was enjoying the sight of this beautiful thing, when a little mount in the grass caught my eye.

It was an old obelisk, from the first years of Zone. They were used a lot back then, grey granite plates with names and photos

My eyes have almost slipped through the lines **‘..died during the rescue operation on 18.09.2012’**. I noticed the familiar name and photo on it and froze from the shock.

Bogo was looking at me from the obelisk. I found the Donut's face 2 lines further, in his uniform. Captain Bogo and Gideon Grey. Mammals that I've just departed with, mammals that I was defending from the mad pride with, judging from the text, died 9 years ago. My thoughts ended before they stated to appear. I felt emptiness and cold. The Zone strikes back, so to say.

I never told anyone about what happened to me during that night. Nobody cared anyway. I got a lot of money for that spiral. I've spent the part of it to buy the info about these two guys from the Center. No doubts: Donut and Bogo died 9 years ago. One died because of his stupidity, another – while trying to save the first one. And a couple of other mammals, too. I tried to find any info about the weapon, that I received, but to no avail.

Now I'm looking at the rain that was watering the earth near my house and was thinking about all the possibilities. Maybe they weren't dead and it was just a mistake, maybe they were actually dead, maybe it was just someone's sick joke, maybe it's just me going crazy.

Or maybe that was the Zone trying to tell me something. I wish I could understand a word from that message.


End file.
